TMI

Sorry to burst your bubble, but this post isn’t about anything scandalous. It’s literally about TMI: way too much information.

Currently, the “Recent Searches” section of my Google toolbar thingy contains a bunch of entries like “how to promote a blog”, “best ways to promote a blog”, “best blogging tips”…you get the picture. I don’t know quite how it happened, but somehow my obsession with running melded with a new obsession with writing to become an obsession with blogging about running. (Lots of “ings”, I know.)

The good thing about writing about running is that running gives you lots of free time to think about things to write. Even if you don’t think you’re thinking about writing, it can sneak up on you (because you’re obsessed, and by definition no longer in control of your thoughts).

For example, the other day I was doing a quick (humor me) 4-mile loop before work, and I started thinking about the book I’d been reading before bed: Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage, by Elizabeth Gilbert. Even though this is a book about travel and marriage, by mile 2.32 I was fantasizing about how I could build a blog post around this one paragraph where she went to Cambodia and…never mind, I’ll write that one later.

The point is, now that I’m almost as obsessed with blogging as I am with running, I started to wonder, “How can I get more people to read my blog??” Which is why, naturally, my cursor began to wander up toward that Google toolbar thingy.

So now I’ve spent 3 days reading about how to publicize a blog, and I can’t decide whether to cry or pull my hair out. There is way way WAY too much information available on this topic. How am I supposed to know what’s good and what’s crap? How am I supposed to know who to trust?? For goodness sake, this is the internet. Trust NOBODY!!!

…right?

Seriously, between Twitter and Digg and FeedBurner and del.icio.us and so on and so forth, there’s just so much stuff out there that I feel like the hopelessly uncool parent trying to play my kid’s Nintendo. Oh God, I’m dating myself even more, aren’t I?

And then there’s the paradox of my crisis of blog confidence. Every time I do take even a tiny step toward publicizing my stuff, I become overwhelmed with dread that I’m making a huge mistake and no one will like what I write and they’ll just leave mean comments…honestly, I’m such a girl sometimes. The first time I posted a link to here from my Facebook wall I was so overwhelmed with anxiety that I hid my computer under the bed so I wouldn’t have to look at it anymore.

Thank God for running, or I’d need some seriously expensive therapy.

Because I’m still slightly more obsessed with running than blogging, it hit me that this is exactly what happens every time I decide I want to educate myself about running. Every so often I’ll think, “I’m going to get serious about speedwork.” And so I type “speedwork” in the Google toolbar thingy. And every single time the same thing happens. After about 20 minutes, the initial bout of inspired enthusiasm wears off. Numbers like 440s and 880s–not to mention weird number/letter combinations like 8x400s–are swimming across my vision. When did they decide calculus was a pre-req for running the marathon?

Half the time I can’t even tell if this is a site I’ve landed on before or not. And am I looking at a reasonable program for a beginner, or have I stumbled onto Kara Goucher’s Olympic training regimen? (Okay, so that’s probably not public information, but still.) And what if I do try to follow some speed training regimen and I don’t get faster and then everyone will know I’m just a big running blogging loser…because I’ll tell them on my blog?!?

In the end, I guess my blogging is going to be just like my running: long and slow. I’ll keep up my research in fits and starts, but in between I’ll just keep doing what I do day in and day out. Running. And writing. And hoping someone else finds either–or both–entertaining.

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P.S. – I’m on the lookout for some good running blogs to read. Suggestions welcome!

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4 comments on “TMI”

My 2c, for now just focus on your blog and writing. The more active you are the more likely your 'followers' are to read (or atleast visit). The more visitors you have, (and the more comments you have) the more popular your blog can become. Run more, think more, write more, let the rest follow 🙂 Oh and find other blogs you like and link to them, that helps too.Many years ago when I was in New Zealand, I blogged about a pizza chain there. I still get atleast a couple of hits a week on that from search engines. So definitely blog about Hell's Pizza!

A friend of a friend from HS writes this one: http://www.mile-posts.blogspot.com/ and it is great when you want inspiration. She also has links to other blogs (running and otherwise) that she likes. Try not to hate her perfect life too too much 🙂

I second that blog that Emily recommends. And also the idea to run more, think more, write more and let the rest follow.Hell, you could ask Rogue to post this on their site – I AM SURE THEY WOULD!!!! Just an idea – seriously – it may be welcomed to read yours as a "real person"!!!!

Thanks for the blog recs!! I can't wait to check them out.Also, thanks for the advice. I think I've pretty much come to the same conclusion as you all. Publicizing a blog is just too tiring for my stuck-in-the-90s self!I DID look up pizza chains though, which reminded me that Texas is completely overrun by Gatti's Pizza. If they serve pizza in hell, I think Gatti's might be it… Does that count? =)